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Pop A DVD In: Stop-Loss

PopSugarUK — Thu, 21 Aug 2008 08:00:00 -0700

Stop-Loss stars Ryan Phillippe, Channing Tatum and Joseph Gordon-Levitt as three soldiers whose friendships and lives fall apart on their return home after serving in Iraq when Brandon King (Philippe) is "stop-lossed"; the US policy where soldiers who have completed their service are called back to serve again.

Brandon hits the road to seek justice and is accompanied by Michelle (Abbie Cornish), the fiancée of his childhood buddy Steve Shriver (Tatum), while those he leaves in Texas - particularly Tommy Burgess (Gordon-Levitt) - struggle to come to terms with life back home.

The acting by all three main male actors is great, and Channing Tatum won a Teen Choice Award in the "Movie Actor: Drama" category for his performance. I agree with my girl Buzz US that some of the accents are pretty awful, but that doesn't detract too much from the gripping drama.

To find out more about the film, and the DVD extras, read more

Watching Stop-Loss is an intense experience from the very beginning, with the film opening in Iraq and the camerawork contributing to the sense of unease and suspense. I didn't find the film sentimental nor sensational, more a gritty dramatisation of a frightening, frustrating and above-all complex situation. I was surprised at the lack of a love story, given Abbie Cornish's role, but I ended up pleased that the movie focussed more on the male friendships and the tensions within them.

The DVD extras are impressive, with a commentary from director Kimberly Peirce and co-writer Mark Richard, "Making Of" and "A Day in Boot Camp" featurettes and 11 deleted scenes, including some shirtless Ryan Phillippe action.

If you want to see more before deciding whether or not to pick up a copy of Stop-Loss you can head over to Buzz US to check out the trailer. I'd certainly recommend the film to those of you looking for a thought-provoking, well-acted film about the war.

Photos courtesy of Paramount

Manjoyment: Hello Shirtless Ryan Phillippe

PopSugarUK — Tue, 05 Aug 2008 05:00:00 -0700

What better way to cheer up a grey day than to see Ryan Phillippe in all his shirtless glory. We've got a sneak peak at these manjoyment stills, which come from the deleted scenes of the DVD release of Stop-Loss, Ryan's movie with Abbie Cornish. Also starring Channing Tatum and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, the film focuses on a how a group of friends and family in Texas react when their loved ones in the military are called back having already served in Iraq. It was out on DVD in the States a month ago, but us Brits will finally get the chance to get our hands on the film on 18 August.

Other DVD extras include commentary with director Kimberly Peirce and co-writer Mark Richard, "Making Of" and "A Day in Boot Camp" featurettes and ten more deleted scenes. Head over to my girl Buzz US to check out the trailer.

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Photos courtesy of Paramount

What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday

BuzzSugar — Tue, 08 Jul 2008 08:30:57 -0700

All of the new DVD releases hit stores (and Netflix) on Tuesdays. So each week in What to Netflix: New DVD Tuesday, I sort through the best of the batch and tell you what to add to your queue. In addition to the titles below you can also rent The Ruins starring Jena Malone and the sixth season of Monk.

Stop-Loss
Stop-Loss joins an ever-growing list of Iraq war movies that bit the dust at the box office. This has little to do with the quality of the films and probably more to do with folks not looking for difficult subject matter when they head to the movie theater. But while director Kimberly Peirce's follow up to Boys Don't Cry isn't flawless, it is well worth your time.

Starring Ryan Philippe, Channing Tatum, Abbie Cornish and a scene-stealing Joseph Gordon-Levitt, the movie centers around a group of friends and family members in Texas struggling with their loved ones in the military who return from serving in Iraq only to be called back.

Special features include 11 deleted scenes, commentary by director Kimberly Peirce and co-writer Mark Richard, and a featurette titled, "A Day in Boot Camp."

One more fun choice so read more.

Psych: Season 2
The men of Psych are quirky and cute together, so it's no wonder that the USA show has built up a following over the years. Now, just in time for the third season premiere, you can find the second season on DVD.

If you're new to Psych, here's a summary of the show's premise: "Psych is a quick-witted comedy/drama starring James Roday as young police consultant Shawn Spencer who solves crimes with powers of observation so acute that Santa Barbara PD detectives think he’s psychic. Psych also stars Dulé Hill as Shawn's best friend and reluctant sidekick, Gus, and Corbin Bernsen as his disapproving father, Henry, who ironically was the one who honed his son's 'observation' skills as a child."

Season two included a ton of great guest stars including: Tim Curry, Gina Gershon (as a funny reality show judge), Lou Diamond Phillips, John Amos, Ernie Hudson, Phylicia Rashad, Thelma Hopkins, and Kevin Sorbo. Special features include deleted scenes, audio commentaries, Podcast commentary, and the all-important gag reel.

Weekend Box Office: 21 Wins the Pot

BuzzSugar — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 08:15:05 -0700

Well, it looks like 21, the film about MIT students who take Vegas by storm, was a safe bet as it easily won the top spot at the box office. However, the overall weekend box office total was down 17 percent compared to last year, Variety reports. 21 earned an estimated $23 million, beating Horton Hears a Who and firmly establishing Jim Sturgess as a viable leading man.

Compare these results to another new release this weekend: Stop-Loss, starring Ryan Phillippe, who is a household name. Another box office casualty in a long line of Iraq War-related film flops, Stop-Loss only earned $4.5 million, coming in at No. 8.

Which brings me to the other box office disappointment this weekend, Superhero Movie. Could it be that Round One of Harvey Weinstein vs. Fanboys' fanboys goes to the geeks (more on the feud here)? Protesters gathered on both coasts where Superhero was playing, though in LA it appears Weinstein was prepared with guards. One protester told the Hollywood Reporter:

Guards were everywhere. At one point, I counted nine, no joke. They hired a whole force and whenever someone showed up looking around for the protest, they were surrounded by guards and told to leave instantly or be arrested. I guess you can't really hold a protest on private property.

Ultimately the film came in the third spot with a measly $9.5 million. Is this a little bit hilarious to anyone else?

Finally, Run Fat Boy Run starring Simon Pegg came in 13th and only earned an estimated $2.3 million here in the US. The movie grossed $22.6 million in the UK last Fall.

Photos courtesy of Sony Pictures

Sugar Bits - Read With Alexa

PopSugarUK — Mon, 31 Mar 2008 03:00:00 -0700

Kooky presenter Alexa Chung's career plans include being on Radio Four, talking about books. – Guardian
Sarah Jessica Parker's five-year-old son is "very into Barack Obama" in the lead up to the US elections. I think I liked Care Bears when I was five... or perhaps Kylie and Jason. – People
Here's a day in the life of R.E.M. – Times
Ever wondered what a CGI Amy Winehouse, Pete Doherty or Prince Harry would look like? Rory Bremner's new show has their interpretation. – Daily Mail
Kate Bosworth's new movie 21 is number one in the US box office, other new entries include Superhero Movie at no. 3 and Stop-Loss at no. 8. – Variety
Amy Winehouse's third album will apparently be pretty bleak. – The Sun
Kevin Spacey has criticised the BBC for their musical audition TV shows, saying they're "unfair". – BBC
Oh the randomness – here's a TV spot for Eastenders about the return of Patsy Palmer as Bianca Jackson, and her four kids – aka, the Jackson 5. Do you see what they did there? I'm glad they're trying something different with their ads, but just as a warning get your earplugs ready...

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Stop-Loss: Overwrought but Good-Hearted

BuzzSugar — Fri, 28 Mar 2008 12:33:21 -0700

It's an oft-lamented fact that movies about the Iraq war don't do very well - either in box office sales or with audience favor in general. There are plenty of reasons for this, but the fact is it's a challenge for filmmakers to put out movies about a controversial war that isn't yet over. With Stop-Loss, the filmmakers have attempted to make the topic more appealing by getting MTV on board, using popular good-looking young actors and featuring plenty of quick-edit montages set to rap songs.

The main characters in the movie are also relateable and familiar, just regular guys, playing with their techie devices, engaging in silly banter. This is presented right from the start, with a mock-amateur video in which a group of soldiers jostle each other, trade good-natured insults and sing along together as one of them, Tommy Burgess (Joseph Gordon-Levitt), plays his guitar. The action moves quickly to a bloody, violent conflict into which Sgt. Brandon King (Ryan Philippe) inadvertently leads his group of soldiers. Some of the men don't make it out alive, one is severely injured and all the others are thoroughly messed up by the experience. This is the basis for all that comes afterward, so read more.

Brandon returns to his hometown a decorated hero, along with his childhood best friend Steve Shriver (Channing Tatum) and the young Tommy Burgess. Relieved, he begins settling back into civilian life when he is informed that he's being sent back to Iraq via stop-loss, the US policy by which soldiers who have completed their terms of service can be called back to serve again, sometimes referred to as a back-door draft. Confused and furious, Brandon lashes out at his superiors and then goes AWOL and hits the road to Washington DC to discuss the matter with a senator he knows. Of course, the senator won't interact with a fugitive soldier, and Brandon's options narrow down to two: go back to Iraq, or leave the country and never see his family again.

I've heard people label this as an antiwar, antimilitary film when that's only half-right. It's antiwar, for sure, but it's fiercely promilitary. The film shows military families in the most respectful, reverent, and sympathetic light. Director Kimberly Peirce (Boys Don't Cry) has a tenderness for these families, for Americana and cowboy culture, draping her Texas in blue and yellow hues and a warm, downhome atmosphere. These are good people, upright citizens, solid in their belief that it's right to serve one's country no matter what. This belief is challenged by the stop-loss policy, and this challenge - especially since they think they've been doing their time all these years, only to be told it's not quite enough - makes them angry. Very, very angry.

Anger is the key word for this movie, in fact. This is no deft, subtle, poignant piece of art but an explosion of rage, indignation, and violence. Those going to the film thinking there might be a strong love story involved - there isn't. The friendships between the men are intriguing and deeply rooted, but ultimately everything takes a backseat to just this blind fury Brandon feels over his lose-lose situation. Despite the muddled nature of this film, the helplessness of Brandon's dilemma clearly comes through. What's refreshing about this film is that this helplessness reflects the state of political affairs in Iraq on a grander scale. Other movies (Lions for Lambs, for example) may insert some heartfelt sadness amidst the two hours of people discussing politics, but this one does the opposite - a movie full of anger, machismo, and despair peppered with bits of politics. It's not a great movie. The accents are mostly terrible and the performances are not the best (except for the unbearably pitiable Joseph Gordon-Levitt, who is excellent). But it is a powerful salute to our troops, and brings an important issue to light.

To see the trailer and more clips from Stop-Loss, check out movies.ivillage.com.

Photos courtesy of Paramount Pictures

Box Office: Horton Hears a Lot of Ka-Ching

BuzzSugar — Mon, 24 Mar 2008 09:30:41 -0700

After shattering 2008 box office records last week, Horton Hears a Who once again took the top spot over this Easter holiday weekend. Variety reports that Good Friday was the strongest day for Dr. Seuss' Horton which took in $25.1 million over the weekend in addition to the movie's opening weekend earnings of $45 million.

Tyler Perry’s Meet the Browns also performed well, coming in second place with a respectable $20 million.

Plagued by poor reviews and a lack of promotion for the film, the Judd Apatow-produced Drillbit Taylor earned a disappointing $10.2 million, putting the movie at No. 4 behind the thriller Shutter. Compared to how Apatow's comedies like Knocked Up performed last year, this kind of opening indicates that Apatow's attachment to a project doesn't guarantee box office gold. The top five was rounded out by 10,000 B.C. which dropped several spots from the No. 2 spot it held last week.

This weekend will bring several openings that will likely shake up the box office including Kevin Spacey's 21 and the war drama Stop-Loss.

Photos courtesy of 20th Century Fox

No Loss for Hot Guys at the Stop-Loss Premiere

Molly — Mon, 17 Mar 2008 23:25:29 -0700

Ryan Phillippe came out to premiere his new movie Stop-Loss in LA last night, but he didn't have his costar/girlfriend Abbie Cornish on his arm. In fact, she didn't come to her premiere at all, which isn't much of a surprise since the studio's PR team didn't want the couple promoting the movie together and reminding everyone of the Ryan-Reese break up. Instead, Ryan was joined by his male costars Joseph Gordon-Levitt and Channing Tatum. It's been a while since we've had Ryan as the leading man so it should be interesting to see if he can pull off this heart-wrenching film with his fellow leading men and women.

To see more from the premiere including Channing Tatum, Joseph Gordon-Levitt and others just read more

View 21 Photos ›

Images include: Channing Tatum, Joseph Gordon-Levitt, Ryan Phillippe, Jenna Dewan, Kimberly Peirce, Steven Strait, Rob Brown, Victor Rasuk

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Sugar Bits - Madonna's Directorial Debut Heads to Berlin

PopSugar — Fri, 28 Dec 2007 09:48:46 -0800

Madonna's first film as a director, Filth and Wisdom, will debut in February at the Berlin Film Festival, out of competition. She's obviously a successful performer and businesswoman, but the movies have been her downfall in the past. Let's hope being behind the camera is a better fit for Madge. - AP
Carrie Underwood apparently spent the holidays with Chace Crawford's family in Dallas. It sounds like things are heating up between the adorable country star and Gossip boy, awww! - Us Weekly
The PR team for Stop Loss are trying to make sure that co-stars Ryan Phillippe and Abbie Cornish promote the movie separately so audiences don't associate the movie with Ryan's divorce from Reese. Too bad it seems a little late for that, especially since Ryan and Abbie seem pretty together these days. - Page Six
Yulia Volkova, one of the girls from t.A.T.u., gave birth to her first son last night in Russia. Congrats to the new mom! - People
ICYMI, Sean Penn and Robin Wright Penn are planning to divorce.

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Movie Preview: Stop-Loss

BuzzSugar — Tue, 23 Oct 2007 07:30:00 -0700

Stop-Loss, starring Ryan Phillippe, Abbie Cornish, Channing Tatum and Joseph Gordon-Levitt, examines the difficult government policy by which soldiers who have completed their terms of service can be called back to serve again. Phillippe plays a soldier who refuses to return to service, despite being recalled to duty. It's a prickly issue, and so far I'm impressed by how the trailer makes it look like the movie doesn't shy away from examining the various sides of the matter. Stop-Loss doesn't open until March 28, but it's worth checking out the trailer if you read more

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